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Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘If this were any other taxpayer-funded body, the BBC would be leading the calls for reform and telling viewers what a waste of public funds it was.’

An insider said BBC staff would often plan to ‘take their money’ and return as freelancers. ‘It’s a total abuse of public money and the redundancy system,’ he said.

By returning as freelancers, BBC workers stand to make even more money than they did as fully-fledged employees.

Crucially, they were also able to dodge the BBC’s own rules, which were allegedly put in place to stop such ‘revolving door’ scandals.

According to the BBC’s official policy, staff who are made redundant are not allowed to return on a proper employment contract for at least a year after they leave.

But it only has to wait for three months before taking them back on a freelance or casual basis.

Matthew Bannister, the former Radio 1 boss, got a presenting role just two years after being handed a £200,000 golden goodbye in 2000. The executive – who was dubbed ‘the Fat Controller’ by DJ Chris Evans – returned as a late-night presenter on Radio 5 Live and is now a host on the World Service’s Outlook show.

The BBC spent £1.3million to make 23 staff redundant in the last financial year – the equivalent of £56,500 each – only to rehire them - prompting MPs and lobby groups to accuse the corporaton of wasting money

In 2011, Mark Brownlow, a producer for the David Attenborough series Planet Earth, received a redundancy pay-off of around £60,000. He returned as a freelancer in 2012 and is now the series producer of Blue Planet 2.

In January 2012, the former managing editor of BBC Radio Manchester, John Ryan, left with a similar pay-off. Four months later he was producing Men’s Hour on BBC Radio Five through an independent production firm.

He also set up his own firm, 2ZY, which has made programmes for Radio 1 and BBC Radio Wales.

A BBC spokesman said yesterday: ‘The BBC has strict rules about when people made redundant can work for the BBC again and during a 15-year period it is inevitable that a small number of staff will leave and rejoin.

‘Using experienced freelancers in this way is common across broadcasting and journalism to help keep pay costs down.’

John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘This lucrative revolving door must be stopped. These are huge amounts of money and licence-fee payers will be angry that their cash is being wasted on generous golden goodbyes, only for those made redundant to walk back in on a new salary

The BBC has saved £150million a year by cutting staff and practising ‘pay restraint’. The broadcaster must save a further £800million by 2020 after the Government said it had to start footing the bill for free licences for the over-75s.

This is not the first time the BBC has come under fire for its largesse towards former staff. MPs have described losing a job at the BBC as being like winning the lottery because of the sums involved.

Its former chief operating officer, Caroline Thomson, left with a £670,000 pay-off – more than twice her £330,000 salary – even though she wanted to quit.

Ex-deputy director-general Mark Byford walked away with £949,000, and former director-general George Entwistle was paid £470,000 for just 54 days work, before resigning over his handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

The public were so angered by the payouts that in 2013 the BBC introduced a cap of £150,000.